Water pump

ABSTRACT

A water pump includes a driving shat configured to be rotated by an external driving force; an impeller configured to be rotated by being connected to the driving shaft; and a cover frame comprising a main frame having an accommodation space in which the impeller is accommodated, formed therein, a suction pipe, which communicates with one side of the main frame and through which a fluid is suctioned into the accommodation space, and a barrier wall that extends from the suction pipe and disposed at one side between the main frame and the impeller.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No.10-2016-0150353, filed on Nov. 11, 2016, in the Korean IntellectualProperty Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in itsentirety by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a water pump, and more particularly, toa water pump in which cooling water is suctioned to be circulated intoan engine and which is used in a cooling system for a vehicle.

2. Description of the Related Art

A water pump is a pump that forcibly circulates cooling water into anengine and a product that cools electronic equipment inside a vehicle.In general, an engine that attains power using an explosive force of afuel, like an engine of an automobile, generates high-temperature heatduring operating. When high-temperature heat is not properly controlled,not only the engine itself but also other adjacent engines have a badinfluence. Thus, the cooling water is necessarily used as a unit forcooling such heat.

In general, a water pump for an internal combustion engine is forciblydriven by a belt connected to a crankshaft of the engine so as to rotatean impeller inside the pump.

In case of a green car, such as an electric vehicle, a hybrid vehicle, aplug-in hybrid vehicle, or a fuel cell vehicle, a cooling water (water)pump is installed to cool an inverter, a hemispherical grain (HSG), astack or the like.

Such a cooling water pump is generally configured to be driven in linewith the engine or to be autonomously driven by an additionally-suppliedpower.

A rotating impeller suctions the cooling water into the center thereofand applies a centrifugal force to the suctioned cooling water so thatthe cooling water can be circulated into the engine.

There are many cases where a small amount of foreign substances areincluded in the cooling water introduced into the water pump. When theforeign substances are introduced into the water pump, driving of thewater pump may be stopped. Thus, circulation of the cooling water is notperformed so that the engine and the inverter may be severely damageddue to overheat.

In order to reduce an influence of the water pump by the foreignsubstances, Korean Patent Registration No. 10-1635538 is devised.Referring to FIG. 1, Korean Patent Registration No. 10-1635538 disclosesan apparatus for removing foreign substances of a pump that is capableof discharging the foreign substances interposed between an impeller 1and a casing 2, and more particularly, an apparatus for removing foreignsubstances of a pump that has a main component of a scraper ring 3 thatslides in a direction in which a fluid is suctioned and scrapes foreignsubstances introduced between the impeller 1 and the casing 2.

In this case, according to Korean Patent Registration No. 10-1635538,the foreign substances cannot be prevented from being introduced betweena frame of a top end of the impeller 1 and a frame of a top end of thewater pump. That is, the introduced foreign substances can be easilyremoved. However, introduction of the foreign substances itself cannotbe fundamentally prevented.

Also, Korean Patent Registration No. 10-1635538 does not disclose anymethod of preventing the foreign substances introduced into the impeller1 from being introduced into the water pump. That is, there are manysubsidiary equipment such as a bearing, a seal unit, and the like,between a rotation shaft and a water pump frame. The foreign substancescannot be prevented from being introduced into the equipment.

Thus, a water pump having an additional structure for minimizingintroduction of the foreign substances included in cooling water intothe water pump is required.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a water pump having a structure in whichintroduction of foreign substances into an impeller and a main frame ofthe water pump is minimized. The present invention also provides a waterpump having a structure in which foreign substances introduced into theimpeller can be easily discharged.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided awater pump including: a driving shat configured to be rotated by anexternal driving force; an impeller configured to be rotated by beingconnected to the driving shaft; and a cover frame including a main framehaving an accommodation space in which the impeller is accommodated,formed therein, a suction pipe, which communicates with one side of themain frame and through which a fluid is suctioned into the accommodationspace, and a barrier wall that extends from the suction pipe anddisposed at one side between the main frame and the impeller.

The impeller may include: a disc-shaped base having a center to whichthe driving shaft is connected; a plurality of blades coupled to a topsurface of the base and extending from the center of the base in aradial form; a disc-shaped shroud coupled to a top end of each of theplurality of blades; and an introduction pipe, which communicates withone side of the shroud and through which the fluid is introduced intothe impeller, and the barrier wall may extend toward an inside of theintroduction pipe.

The cover frame may include a pair of protrusion pieces that protruderespectively from the inside of the main frame, are disposed at outercircumferential surfaces of the shroud and the base and form a dischargeport through which the fluid introduced into the impeller is discharged.

An outer end of the base may be inclined so that the base guides thefluid toward a center of the discharge port.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other features and advantages of the present inventionwill become more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodimentsthereof with reference to the attached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a water pump according to therelated art;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a water pump according to anembodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 3A is a cross-sectional view of movement of cooling water andforeign substances introduced into the water pump according to therelated art, and FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view of movement ofcooling water and foreign substances introduced into the water pumpaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary embodiments, examplesof which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. However,exemplary embodiments are not limited to the embodiments illustratedhereinafter and are just exemplary embodiments of the invention, andthere may be various modifications that may replace the embodiments ofthe present specification and the drawings. Accordingly, all suchmodifications are intended to be included within the scope of theclaims.

Although a water pump according to an embodiment of the presentinvention is installed inside an automobile and suctions cooling waterto circulated into an automobile engine and an inverter, this is just anexemplary embodiment, and the structure of the water pump according tothe present invention may be applied to all pumps having a structure inwhich a fluid is suctioned and discharged using a rotational force of animpeller. Thus, even though hereinafter, descriptions will be providedusing the terms such as cooling water, a water pump, and the like, itwill be preferable that it is interpreted that the terms mean all fluidsincluding the cooling water and all types of pumps including the waterpump.

Referring to FIG. 2, a water pump 100 according to an embodiment of thepresent invention includes a driving shaft 110, an impeller 120, and acover frame 130.

The driving shaft 110 is rotated by an external driving force supplied.Although not shown, the external driving force may be transferred to thedriving shaft 110 by using a driving motor separately provided or bybeing forcibly driven by a belt connected to a crankshaft of an engine.

The impeller 120 is rotated by being connected to the driving shaft 110.In more detail, the impeller 120 may include a disc-shaped base 121having the center to which the driving shaft 110 is connected, aplurality of blades 122 coupled to a top surface of the base 121 andextending from the center of the base 121 in a radial form, adisc-shaped shroud 123 coupled to a top end of each of the plurality ofblades 122, and an introduction pipe 124 which communicates with oneside of the shroud 123 and through which a fluid is introduced into theimpeller 120.

The cover frame 130 includes a main frame 131 having an accommodationspace 131 a in which the impeller 120 is accommodated, formed therein, asuction pipe 132, which is formed to communicate with one side of themain frame 131 and through which the fluid is suctioned into theaccommodation space 131 a, and a barrier wall 133 that extends from thesuction pipe 132 and disposed at one side between the main frame 131 andthe impeller 120.

In this case, the barrier wall 133 may extend toward an inside of theintroduction pipe 124. The introduction pipe 124 and the barrier wall133 form a double wall so that foreign substances can be prevented frombeing introduced into a space between the shroud 123 and an upperportion of the main frame 131.

The cover frame 130 may include a pair of protrusion pieces 134 thatprotrude respectively from the inside of the main frame 131, aredisposed at outer circumferential surfaces of the shroud 123 and thebase 121 and form a discharge port 134 a through which the fluidintroduced into the impeller 120 is discharged.

The discharge port 134 a is an outlet through which cooling water isdischarged from the water pump 100 so that the cooling water introducedinto the impeller 120 and discharged from the impeller 120 by arotational force transferred from the blades 122 can be introduced intoan engine and an inverter. Transferring of the cooling water into theengine from the discharge port 134 a may be designed in various ways,and this is a well-known art and thus detailed descriptions thereof willbe omitted.

Because an outer end of the base 121 is inclined, the base 121 may guidethe fluid toward the center of the discharge port 134 a. This is toprevent the foreign substances from being introduced into a bottom endof the base 121.

Preferably, an outer end of the base 121 is curved upward so that avelocity vector of the cooling water discharged from the impeller 120faces the top end of the base 121. Thus, the foreign substances may notflow into the bottom end of the base 121 but may be discharged to thedischarge port 134 a. However, this is just an exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention, and the base 121 for guiding the fluid toward thecenter of the discharge port 134 a may have various shapes according toa designer's selection.

The water pump 100 according to an embodiment of the present inventionmay further include a shaft frame 140, a seal unit 150, and a bearing160.

The top end of the shaft frame 140 is coupled to the cover frame 130,and the shaft frame 140 accommodates the driving shaft 110, the sealunit 150, and the bearing 160 therein.

The seal unit 150 is a mechanical element for preventing the coolingwater from being introduced into the shaft frame 140. Although, in FIG.2, the seal unit 150 is directly coupled to the driving shaft 110, thisis just an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The seal unit150 may have a structure in which an inside surface thereof is rotatedand an outside surface thereof is fixed to an external object, like thebearing, or a structure in which an additional bearing is coupled to ashaft and then the seal unit 150 is coupled to an outside of thebearing.

The inside surface of the bearing 160 is coupled to the driving shaft110, and the outside surface of the bearing 160 is coupled to the shaftframe 140 so that the bearing 160 supports the driving shaft 110. Thebearing 160 is a mechanical element that fixes a rotating shaft in apredetermined position, supports a weight of the shaft and a loadapplied to the shaft and rotates the shaft. In FIG. 2, a ball bearing isshown. However, this is just an exemplary embodiment, and a variety oftypes of bearings may be used.

Features of the invention can be clearly understood by referring toFIGS. 3A and 3B in a comparative manner. FIG. 3A illustrates a movementpath of cooling water and foreign substances introduced into a waterpump according to the related art, and FIG. 3B illustrates a movementpath of cooling water and foreign substances introduced into the waterpump 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referringto FIG. 3A, the water pump according to the related art does not includea barrier wall, and no inclination is formed at an outer end of animpeller base so that the foreign substances permeate between a waterpump impeller and a main frame. However, referring to FIG. 3B, the waterpump 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includesthe barrier wall 133, and an inclination is formed at an outer end ofthe impeller base 121 so that the foreign substances do not permeatebetween the impeller 120 and the main frame 131 but is directlydischarged to the discharge port 134 a. Thus, the water pump 100 isprevented from being damaged by the foreign substances and may circulatethe cooling water smoothly into the engine, the inverter, or the like.

As described above, in a water pump according to the present invention,a barrier wall is added between a main frame and an impeller so thatforeign substances can be prevented from being introduced between theimpeller and the main frame. Also, in the water pump according to thepresent invention, an outer end of an impeller base is inclined so thata flow path is configured in such a way that the foreign substances canbe smoothly discharged from the water pump.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and describedwith reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understoodby those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form anddetails may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scopeof the present invention as defined by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A water pump comprising: a driving shatconfigured to be rotated by an external driving force; an impellerconfigured to be rotated by being connected to the driving shaft; and acover frame comprising a main frame having an accommodation space inwhich the impeller is accommodated, formed therein, a suction pipe,which communicates with one side of the main frame and through which afluid is suctioned into the accommodation space, and a barrier wall thatextends from the suction pipe and disposed at one side between the mainframe and the impeller.
 2. The water pump of claim 1, wherein theimpeller comprises: a disc-shaped base having a center to which thedriving shaft is connected; a plurality of blades coupled to a topsurface of the base and extending from the center of the base in aradial form; a disc-shaped shroud coupled to a top end of each of theplurality of blades; and an introduction pipe, which communicates withone side of the shroud and through which the fluid is introduced intothe impeller, and the barrier wall extends toward an inside of theintroduction pipe.
 3. The water pump of claim 2, wherein the cover framecomprises a pair of protrusion pieces that protrude respectively fromthe inside of the main frame, are disposed at outer circumferentialsurfaces of the shroud and the base and form a discharge port throughwhich the fluid introduced into the impeller is discharged.
 4. The waterpump of claim 3, wherein an outer end of the base is inclined so thatthe base guides the fluid toward a center of the discharge port.